Bankrupt Canadian wireless carrier Mobilicity has obtained a further extension of the stay period of proceedings to 31 August 2015.
The Ontario-based minnow, which has been under creditor protection since September 2013, had to pull out of the…
Bankrupt Canadian wireless carrier Mobilicity has obtained a further extension of the stay period of proceedings to 31 August 2015.
The Ontario-based minnow, which has been under creditor protection since September 2013, had to pull out of the country’s latest AWS-3 spectrum auction, held in March, after failing to secure the required funding, thus allowing rival Wind Mobile to buy up spectrum at a lower price.
“It continues to be business as usual for our customers and suppliers,” Mobilicity Chief Restructuring Officer Bill Aziz, said in a statement.
“As the wireless spectrum landscape evolves, the stay extension provides Mobilicity with a stable environment in which to evaluate available options and negotiate a value maximizing transaction,” he added.
Mobilicity was set up in 2008, after acquiring AWS licences reserved for new entrants. At the time, the industry ministry moved to prevent new operators from selling licences to larger players for a five-year period. However, when Telus first tried to acquire Mobilicity for C$380m in 2013, the government opposed the deal and introduced the Spectrum License Transfer Framework, which blocks the country’s three main operators – Bell, Rogers and Telus –from acquiring additional spectrum from smaller players on an indefinite basis.
Fourth player Wind Mobile has long been rumoured to be seeking a merger with Mobilicity. However, last December, former chairman Anthony Lacavera told TelecomFinance: “We have not been successful in consummating a relationship with Mobilicity and we are six years into the life of the project so I obviously have some scepticism about it.”
